Major semigration shift in South Africa – these are the towns people are flocking to

A quarter of homeowners who sell and then buy a new home choose to move to another province, and the top towns South Africans flock to include Cape Town, Milnerton, Mossel Bay, George, and more.

In recent years, South Africa has seen a significant trend of homeowners relocating to different provinces, a phenomenon known as semigration.

According to a 2024 report by Lightstone Property, one in four homeowners who sell their current home and then purchase a new one opt to move to another province.

This marks a considerable rise from 2019, when only 16% of such homeowners made interprovincial moves, now reaching 27%.

This trend has become a noteworthy part of the South African real estate landscape, particularly affecting those who sell and buy again within the housing market.

The data provided excludes first-time buyers, properties owned by multiple individuals, sellers who do not purchase another home, and households that buy again under a different spouse’s name.

Nonetheless, the report highlights that approximately 50,000 homeowners participated in this sell-to-buy market in recent years.

Gauteng and the Western Cape emerge as the dominant regions for these transactions, accounting for 48% and 23% of the sell-to-buy market, respectively.

Together, they make up over 70% of this market segment, leaving the other seven provinces to account for the remaining share.

While many homeowners tend to stay within their home province, there has been a noticeable decline in the percentage of repeat buyers remaining within provincial borders.

Comparing data from 2018/19 to 2023/24, this trend shows a decrease across eight of South Africa’s nine provinces.

Only the Western Cape maintained a relatively stable proportion of homeowners staying within the province, dipping only slightly from 89% to 87%.

Gauteng, on the other hand, saw a significant 10% drop in repeat buyers choosing to stay in the province.

Other provinces, such as the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo, experienced even larger declines, with figures dropping between 9% and 15%.

This shift illustrates a growing desire for homeowners to relocate to new provinces, particularly to the Western Cape.

The Western Cape remains a favoured destination for semigrants, attracting many people from other provinces.

Notably, 3,500 homeowners from Gauteng made the move to the Western Cape, with 870 coming from KwaZulu-Natal.

In return, around 1,600 homeowners from the other six provinces moved to Gauteng or the Western Cape.

By examining semigration on a town or city level, a clearer picture emerges of where people are choosing to settle.

Fourteen of the top fifteen towns with a net gain in homeowners are located in the Western Cape.

Cape Town leads the list, with over 1,500 homeowners making the city their new home.

Milnerton and Mossel Bay follow closely, with net inflows of 1,249 and 651, respectively. George and Somerset West round out the top five, attracting 526 and 497 semigrants.

Jeffrey’s Bay in the Eastern Cape is the only non-Western Cape town on the list, though its distance from the Cape border is not far.

The data from Lightstone confirms that the Western Cape continues to draw semigrants from across South Africa, solidifying its status as a preferred destination for those looking for a fresh start in a new province.

Read: One town in the Western Cape where house prices increased from R400,000 to R1.8 million